One of the nation's top forensic scientists, Larry Ragle is the retired Director of Forensic Sciences in Orange County, California. During his career he has investigated countless high-profile homicides, including lending his expertise to the defense team in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Mr. Ragle currently lives in Laguna Beach, California.

---

Larry Ragle was a criminalistics major at UC Berkeley. He received a Bachelors of Science degree in 1959. This program focused on laboratory examination of all types of physical evidence and on crime scene investigation techniques. From 1956 to 1960, he was employed by the City of Berkeley Police Department. He graduated from the California Peace Officer's Academy, a 320-hour program that covered basic patrol techniques, rules of evidence and crime scene investigative techniques. Mr. Ragle's duties as a patrolman included general law enforcement and crime scene investigations.

In 1960, Mr. Ragle was hired as a criminalist for the Orange County Sheriff's Department in Santa Anna, California. His duties included laboratory examinations of all types of evidence and investigating crime scenes, primarily questioned death cases. These duties included giving opinion testimony on laboratory examinations and/or crime scene investigation at Grand Jury Hearings, in Municipal and Superior Courts, and in Federal Court.

In 1976, Mr. Ragle was appointed to the position of Chief Criminalist. In 1977 he was appointed to the position of Director of Forensic Sciences.

Identification Bureau including crime scene investigation and laboratory activities (fingerprints /photography, etc) and eventually CAL-ID, AFIS and ALPS.

Coroner's Bureau including all death scene investigation, autopsies and pathology.

Crime Laboratory including all criminalistics examinations and crime scene investigations.

Toxicology Laboratory including ante mortem blood alcohol and drug tests and all Coroner's toxicology.

As the Director of Forensic Sciences, Mr. Ragle reviewed all reports on pending questioned death cases and all reports on officer involved or in-custody deaths.

Mr. Ragle retired in early 1989 but was rehired until December at the Sheriff's request to complete two major ongoing projects, the establishment of a full service DNA laboratory and the design of a 120,000 sq. ft. forensic laboratory facility.

California Association of Criminalists - President 1973

American Academy of Forensic Sciences - Fellow

California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors - Emeritus

American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors - Emeritus

Mr. Ragle was appointed to the following committees...

1986-1989 California Criminalistics Institute Advisory Committee California Department of Justice

1986-1989 CAL-ID RAN Operational Advisory Committee California Department of Justice

1985-1989 California State Epidemiology Work Group California Department of Health

1987-1989 Forensic Science Operations and Program Committee Federal Bureau of Investigation

1988-1989 Attorney General's DNA Advisory Board California Department of Justice

State of California, Commission on Peace Officer's Standards and Training Advanced Certificate

State of California, Department of Health Licensed Supervising Blood Alcohol Analyst 1966-1989

State of California, Department of Education Lifetime Special Designated Teaching Certificate

California Association of Criminalists Certificate of Professional Competency 1989-1994

Mr. Ragle's first teaching position was at Riverside City College, (1964 -1970), where he taught classes in criminal investigation techniques and crime scene investigation and evidence processing at their law enforcement cadet program.

From 1968 to the present, Mr. Ragle has been an instructor for California State University - Long Beach, Center for Criminal Justice, teaching crime scene investigation techniques and firearms related testing. This is an academy type class for 80 hours attended by police investigators and evidence technicians, FBI agents and security agents from other countries. More than 4,400 students have completed this ongoing class. Mr. Ragle teaches on four of the ten days. (See CSU-LB link)

In 1970 and until 1976 Mr. Ragle was appointed as an assistant professor at California State University- Long Beach, teaching criminalistics, which included classes in evidence and collection techniques.

Mr. Ragle was an instructor at the California Arson Investigators Training Institute, (1974 -1978) where he taught crime scene investigation.

From 1988 to the present Mr. Ragle has been an instructor at the University of California, Irvine, Extension, teaching various aspects of crime scene investigation and physical evidence. (See UCI link)

Ragle, J.L., Extraction of Amphetamine from Urine, California Association of Criminalists, Semi Annual Meeting, 1963.

Ragle, J.L., etal, Physical Evidence Manual, Federal Grant, Sections on Classification of Evidence, Crime Scene Documentation, 1976.

Kenny, John, Editor, etal, Principles of Criminal Investigation, Eagan, Minnesota, West Publications, 1979. Ragle, J.L., Chapter on Forensic Science and Crime Scene Investigation.

Ragle, J.L., The Falsification of Evidence, Fingerprints Don't Lie? American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Annual Meeting, 1980.

Ragle, J.L., Suchey, J., A Human Jig Saw Puzzle Match, American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Annual Meeting, 1985.

Ragle, J.L., The Elusive Elastic Crime Laboratory, Presented to the American Society of Laboratory Directors. FBI Academy, 1989.

Ragle, J.L., Togneri, E. N., Needs Assessment and Management Study, Consolidation of the San Diego Police, Sheriff's and Medical Examiner's Laboratories, Ruth and Going, 1992.

Ragle, J.L., Fisher, Barry, How to Build a Forensic Science Laboratory and Survive, American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Annual Meeting, 1992

Ragle, J.L., Togneri, E. N., Needs Assessment for a Regional Forensic Laboratory, Contra Costa County, California. 1992

Ragle, J.L., Crime Scene, New York, Morrow / Avon, 1995.

Ragle, J.L., Togneri, E. N, Alameda County Sheriff's Laboratory Study, Oakland, California, 1996

Ragle, J.L., Ballard*, Kevin, Taylor, Mark, etal, The Determination of EDTA in Forensic Samples by Capillary GC-MS, Presented at the ASMS Meeting, 1996

Ragle, J.L., Crime Scene 2nd ed., New York, Harper-Collins, 2002